Summing up the midweek Champions League action for Al Jazeera – we’ll say that again, AL JAZEERA – host Gary Lineker was suddenly struck by the compulsion to refer to Montpellier pair Karim Ait-Fana and Younes Belhanda’s Muslim prayer goal celebration – made popular over here by the likes of Demba Ba – as ‘eating grass’…

The comment, unsurprisingly, didn’t go down overly well with the Muslim contingent of Al Jazeera’s audience, and Lineker took to Twitter to apologise-without-apologising shortly after…

No one’s asking him to know every players’ religion, like he says. But when someone celebrates like they did, it kind of gives away their religion. What a plonker. He’s better at selling crisps anyway.

You don’t have to be aware of every player’s religion to be aware of the religion of your employer or a large number of your viewers.

The possibility presents itself that Mr. Lineker is not very bright. A fridge bulb with the door closed. A birthday candle at the end of its wick. A Christmas light unplugged. A stupid, thoughtless man.

Wow, ok you really don’t have to be aware of every prayer’s religion… Just don’t instinctively undermine every gesture that looks “foreign” to you. Next thing you know he’d be mocking Yuto Nagatomo’s Japanese bow goal-celebration and “I’m sorry but I’m not aware of every nation’s culture”. C’mon now.